Chinese Loong is the fifth animal of the 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle (生肖),     1     (consider) to be mythical (神话的) and symbolic of fortune. Recently sales of things with dragon elements have witnessed explosive growth on e-commerce platforms.

Data from an e-commerce platform show that searches     2     dragon-related goods via its online marketplace have reached 23 million. It is reported     3     since January consumers in China     4     (prefer) goods with dragon-themed elements, such as daily necessities, alcohol and gold jewelry. The purchasing excitement is expected to     5     (huge) boost consumer confidence and improve the recovery of consumption.

Purchases by the post-1990s and post-2000s generations accounted for nearly 55%, while consumers in Guangdong province, Beijing, Jiangsu province in that order,     6     (be) the top three spenders on dragon-featured items. Because the dragon is an important symbol of Chinese traditional culture     7     good luck, Chinese consumers are expressing their hopes for     8     better life in the new year.

“Brands should capitalize on (利用) traditional Chinese culture to launch more innovative     9     (product),” a research fellow said,     10     (stress) that Spring Festival is the traditional festival Chinese people attach the most importance to, and it’s also a peak season for consumption.

Dragons, a famous imaginary beast born from fantasy, are often present in stories. Having great power, they     1     (connect) with magical abilities. In     2     (tradition) Chinese culture, a dragon is a symbol of luck, power     3     high status. They can cause weather changes and bring rainfall to the fields     4     (ensure) rich harvests. They are considered divine (神圣的) creatures,     5     hold important position as the head of the four spirits.     6    , to symbolize their power, ancient Chinese emperors     7     (decorate) their clothes with dragon patterns. These clothes are known     8     dragon robes. Many Chinese view the dragon as a national symbol,     9     (proud) referring to themselves as “descendants of the dragon”. Today, dragons have found new significance in global culture with their own unique     10     (personal) and motivations.

Following the tradition of wearing new clothes for the Chinese New Year, young people in China pushed the purchase of hanfu to    1    new level and made it a hit.Young people dressed in hanfu,the traditional clothing of China,    2    (see)in many locations around the world during this year's Spring Festival holiday.

An initiative (倡议) launched in late January by Xiaohongshu, a social media platform,invited users    3    (upload) photos or videos of themselves wearing hanfu at landmarks around the world. The first two weeks of the initiative saw some 10,000 Xiaohongshu users share their photos    4    (take) from around 30 countries and regions around the world.One user even    5    (post) photos from Antarctica. Many supporters believed that    6    was a strong sense of national pride that inspires them to wear hanfu.

Hanfu,as well as other traditional forms of Chinese costume, has become    7    (extreme) popular in recent years, Many universities in China have a hanfu society    8    members .wear hanfu to celebrate traditional Chinese festivals. The “new Chinese style”,    9    (combine)with modern designs,has developed into a fashion trend among the younger generations not only in China, but also worldwide.

Analysts say the rise of“China chic” shows young Chinese people's    10    (confident)in their own culture.Wearing Chinese-style costumes reflects the wearer's Eastern temperament, and presents Chinese aesthetics to the world.

Nanyin is a form of ancient Chinese music. It dates back to the Han Dynasty when people from Central Plains of ancient China brought     1     (they) music to Quanzhou, Fujian province. Later, it mixed with the local music.

Nanyin is traditionally played by     2     group of five people. The singer     3     plays the wooden clapper to keep the beat stands in the middle of the other four.     4     (usual) , on the left are two musicians who play a bamboo flute culled dongxiao and erxian. And on the right are two musicians     5     (play) pipa and sanxian. As for the unique singing style, which is usually sung in the southern Fujian dialect, every song tells a story.

However, Nanyin was nearly     6     (destroy) during the Mid-nineteenth century. Despite being survived, the art lost a lot of its audience. It     7     (take) the Quanzhou local government more than 38 million yuan to preserve and develop Nanyin since 2004. In order to pass down this cultural heritage, schools in Quanzhou have made Nanyin a course that students in both kindergarten     8     primary schools can take. Now 400 Nanyin clubs in Quanzhou have more than 7,000 players.

In 2009, Nanyin was listed     9     intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO. “We sincerely hope that more     10     (teenager) can join us in breathing new life into this culture.” said Mr. Chen, chairman of Quanzhou Nanyin Artists Association.

When it comes to intangible cultural heritage, China currently has 38 items on the UNESCO list.     1    , none of them are food-related.

    2     (make) it on the list, a candidate must have deep cultural and social meaning, UNESCO said. This is something Chinese cuisine is rich     3     .

Many important dates in China     4     (mark) with food. The Spring Festival celebrations, for example, kick off with a bowl of “eight treasure” congee (腊八粥) on the     5     (eight) day of the 12^th lunar month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

Apart from its symbolic festive meaning, Chinese cuisine shows     6     unique theory of health. While the West has a food pyramid, the philosophy of yin and yang can be found in most Chinese dishes.

In addition to health concerns, some Chinese dishes show great social     7     (function). Take the “four dishes and one soup” idea     8     an example. According to legend, the notion originated in the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang served a dinner of four dishes and one soup to officials to advise against extravagance (铺张浪费).

Although each plate of Chinese food contains years of ancestral wisdom, sometimes it’s beyond a     9     (foreign) understanding. In 2011, the China Cuisine Association made an application to put more than 30 Chinese foods and food preparation techniques on the UNESCO Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage items, but failed.

Now, the association is working on an     10     (improve) list of cuisine candidates to apply for UNESCO heritage status. And the result will be announced in November.